A few thoughts from the mobility-impaired

Congrats to Valerie!! 

She won the Huge Book Giveaway and is all set with her spring reading!!

1.  When I broke my ankle, my old college roommate suggested I go ahead and get a knee scooter....Every ounce of pride I had left said No Way. Not Gonna Happen.  And then it was exhausting trying to get to the bathroom twenty feet from the couch and getting my own nutrients from the kitchen was near impossible.

Enter Knee Scooter.  It's amazing what being able to go to the bathroom alone does to someones perspective.

2.  I've really been wishing I'd gotten a pedicure before my skydiving adventure...I can't reach my foot now and am still debating the hilarity of going to get a [modified] pedicure anyways! 

3.   I've been blessed with some amazing friends and family! Both my Mother in law and Mom spent several days here post-surgery, friends have been shuttling Marvel around and done more than their fair share..and The Husband. Well, that man deserves a trophy. And a vacation!

4.  Bear with me if things are quiet around here for a while! I'm still on some pretty heavy meds and while my mobility is limited, what I can do is terribly exhausting so I still sleep a lot more than normal!!  

I promise to keep you updated!! Thank you for all the love and prayers!!

Birthday Fail.

Easter weekend started out with all the usual beauty!

Celebrating our Resurrected Lord. Our church has an amazing multimedia production that {I believe} is really second to none and we were so excited for Marvel to get to see it with us. Easter is the season that messes me up and during the production, as I was sobbing...my gentle and amazing son reached over and said "It's ok, Mom...it isn't over yet...He will Rise!"   Out of the mouths of babes...  Needless to say, I was a proud puddle of blubbering mess after that!

Next, we were on our way to a town about an hour north for my big Birthday present!! I'd been looking forward to this day for months and after 4 (FOUR!) reschedules, the weather was beautiful and I was PUMPED to finally celebrate turning 30 properly!!

Next was....well... slightly less planned.  I often laugh because I consider myself semi-adventurous and pretty close to fearless...and yet.  

I am the most accident prone person you will ever meet. My poor tandem instructor had a spotless record. Over 1500 tandem jumps and no one had ever broken a bone.   Well, he obviously just hadn't met the right beginner yet.

Yep.

I managed to break not one...but TWO! bones in my ankle when I messed up the landing.

Surgery is scheduled for Friday so if I am MIA a while (or my posts seem especially medicated ha!) you'll all know why!!

Please don't hesitate to say a prayer for me when you think about it! My poor husband is single-parenting it for a while and once the adrenaline wore off, I was able to determine that broken ankles HURT!!! :-)

Dear Friday

Here you are....

boasting of sunshine and spring weather that will surely pass quickly by returning us to weekend chill.

You bring with you anticipation and dancing dreams of sleeping in. Of relaxation. Of rest.

And yet, looking forward beyond your horizon to soccer games. tball practices. birthday parties.

I know that {in all reality} you lead us into the busiest and most hectic hours of our week.

Yet I long for the days that you usher in with you.

Days when we are together, enjoying life. bracing the weather.

When fun and family rule the hours and sleep and cuddles abound as effortlessly as the laundry.

And so, while your dancing sugarplum fairies are nothing more than illusions on the horizon...I'm okay with that.

Our reality is pretty good, too.

Thank you Friday. Welcome.

Linking up with Traded Dreams today for the Open Letter Campaign

Gluten, You Great Deceiver.

Dear Gluten.

You with your tender pastries and your soft bread.

With your warm, buttery croissants that call to me from the bakery shelf only to melt in my mouth.

With your moist and delicious cupcakes packed with creamy filling.

You have hidden behind a veil of secrecy and covered the truth with delicate pastries and desserts and warm fresh breads for far too long.


I would have never discovered your deception had I not begun looking for a cure to chronic headaches.

I never would have become wise to your ploys and your influence.

I would have continued living in my wheat-filled, headache stuper, none the wiser..

But, alas, the veil has been torn down and the truth has set me free.

Don't get me wrong, I know you aren't necessarily bad for everyone. I know that you, when eaten well, are in fact a perfectly healthy part of a diet....

But I didn't know how common it was to be gluten-sensitive.

I didn't know that-- thanks to the way you make our lives so easy-- I was funneling more processed and less real food into my family's mouths.

I didn't know that I had alternatives like almond flour and coconut flour.

I had no idea that quinoa and amaranth were sufficient replacements as whole grains.

I didn't know that Real Food was the answer.

Okay, so maybe that is my own fault, but I was deceived, I tell ya!

Really, Dearest Gluten, I should Thank You.

It's because of you that I first began researching all your lying friends, like high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

It's because of you, I started asking myself if there were alternatives to foods covered in toxic pesticides and injected with man-made antibiotics and horomones.

It's because of you that I committed myself to doing the very best for my family.

It's because of you that I have more energy and fewer headaches and wake up without feeling like I'm in a fog.

It's because of you that my family has traded the ultra-processed, packaged fare for the real thing.

It's all because of you.

So thank you, you lying, cheating, Siren of Baked Goods.

Thank you.

Today I am linking up over at The Open Letter Campaign!
Go check it out and join in the fun!

12-12-12

(Source)

It feels wrong not to acknowledge such a momentous occasion and with my recent "phone-burned-up-by-battery" incident, I have to forgo all the Instagram fun....

So here are 12 things you didn't know you didn't know about the number 12:

1.  Football team fans are often called "The 12th Man"

2.  The Beatles released a total of 12 studio albums

3.  According to the book of Joshua, there are 12 tribes of Israel

4.  There are 12 cranial nerves in the human body

5.  Only 12 men have ever walked on the moon

6.  In English, 12 is the largest number to have just one syllable

7.  Under British law, when you turn 12 you can buy a pet

8.  A group of 12 things is called a Duodecad

9.  In ten-pin bowling, you need to throw 12 strikes to play a perfect game

10.  There are 12 pairs of ribs in the human body

11.  There are 12 basic hues in the standard color wheel

12.   In UFO Conspiracy Theories, The Majestic 12 is a secret committee (allegedly) set up by President Truman to investigate and cover up extraterrestrial contacts


And in honor of 12 years together, here's a gem from mine and the Husband's earlier days :

Look at those skinny arms and abs....so so long gone......

So there you have it!

 

Happy 12-12-12!!

 

 

Sources for this post: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_(number)

http://kkyr.com/twelve-random-facts-about-the-number-12/

Do you remember where you were that day?

(Originally posted September 11, 2010)


I do.

I had a 7am P.E. class, so I had gone to class, gotten out early, and had run back to the dorm room to commence sleeping. I had just fallen back asleep.

I remember waking up to my phone ringing.

I remember hearing The Husband--then "The Boyfriend" --tell me to turn on the t.v.

I remember turning it on just in time to see the second tower get hit. My roommate came running into the room and just sat down at the end of my bed.

At that exact moment, it might have been an accident. But a few minutes later, there was word about the 3rd plane. We didn't say anything. We didn't move. We just sat there.

Everything we had forsaken?

Everything we had grown up taking for granted?

Was being attacked.

Our freedoms. Our safety. Our country.

***************

A few years ago, I was babysitting hanging out with my friend's two girls. "T" was probably about 7...maybe 8. We had watched Hairspray that night, and I remember my heart being filled with joy to see the confusion on her face as we watched it.

"Why were they being so mean to those black people?" she asked.

"We didn't do a lot of things right back then. But we are working on doing things right, now." I replied, cautious not to put myself in a corner where the historical responses might confuse her more.

"Well, I think they should have let them dance...They were the better dancers, anyways" She responded, confident that had SHE been in charge, things would have been different.

I smiled, "Yes. Yes, they sure were"

"Hey Ashley...You know what we learned in school the other day?" She came back quickly--unbeknownst to me--quite finished with our previous topic.

"What's that?" I responded, sure that somehow they were teaching about the Civil Rights era in 2nd grade now...

"We learned about these people who flew planes into these big buildings in New York. And now? Those buildings are gone, and a lot of people died that day."

My heart stopped. Sitting there with T? Was the first moment I realized that there would be a whole generation who would be asking US about "that day". The significance of "that day" in history was concrete. And for T... who was just an infant on 9/11... it was as far removed as Pearl Harbor. Or World War II. Or, even, the Revolutionary War.

"You know, T...I remember 'that day'" I said, feeling a little melancholy, my soul always carrying a piece of "that day" with me.

"You were ALIVE when that happened??" Her eyes big and curious.

And so I told her all about what I remembered.

How the country banded together to protect our freedom. 

How none of us had really known what that meant before.

How at that moment... regardless of political positions or intellectual disagreements? We were all, simply, Americans.

I told her about the lines at gas stations being miles long, because people were afraid of gas shortages. How planes couldn't fly for weeks afterward...anywhere. How nobody really knew what the next day would look like, or the next week. or month. or year. But that I had trusted in God and had faith that He loved us.

We talked about how I didn't actually know anyone in the towers, but that one of my professors had a son-in-law who worked there. And had been at a meeting across town when it happened. He was one of the lucky ones.

I told her we were scared. America had never been attacked like this, at least not in my lifetime...and quickly, I realized that THIS was how our grandparents must have felt when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

The immensity of knowing that you were alive during something as significant as that? is profound. I tried my best to explain everything I could...knowing that some things? some feelings? just couldn't be explained.

I didn't mention the picture I have in my head of people jumping out of the windows.Or the piles of bodies being pulled from the wreckage.

I didn't tell her that we were always worried we would be attacked again. Even trying to proactively determine what the risk of our part of the country getting attacked would be (low, we decided).

I didn't tell her that I didn't really cry. I couldn't. really. cry. It was an an emotion I had never really felt...

I did tell her how proud I was--and am--to be an American though. How the resilience of Americans after 9/11 only confirmed how blessed I had felt to be born in such a country.

How, even when I don't agree with the politics, the religious disputes, the hatred, that Americans can possess....I have never wished I'd been born anywhere else.

That I have always said the Pledge of Allegiance with pride and sang Star Spangled Banner as beautifully as possible.

How, even in the worst of times, we were the greatest nation.

And instead of wishing to be somewhere else, when we disagree with things, we should work to change them and make them better.

"Like the people in Hairspray did?" She asked.

"Yep. Just like that".

Source

Someone Started School!

Disclaimer: School started two weeks ago. I couldn't get pictures to load and let's be honest that's what you guys really want anyways. Better late than never, eh? =)

I wanted to think it would be traumatic for him....

I mean, he'd adjusted alright to an entirely new country, filled with a new language and strange-looking, doting, white people....

But I'd just assumed that Mommy was the secret sauce there.

Turns out my Genius Child is also amazingly resilient and adaptable.

Go Figure.


We're slowing integrating school into our lives by spending a season in the "half day" program before putting him in "full day" later this fall.

Of course, he'd be totally okay with full day now.  He often points out the tall skyscrapers next to his school all the way across town and asks if he can do "more school"?

Even today as we left church (right down the street from the school) he asked if he could go to school now....

I don't know whether to be disappointed or bursting with pride. If I should be disappointed, don't tell me so...because I'm all bursting with pride for my little Genius Child.

He also knows all his shapes, colors, numbers 1-20 (okay he starts losing it at around 15), his alphabet and his whole name.....

Not that anyone's bragging. (Except that I totally am)

Here's a little glimpse into that glorious first day of school!

Giving me the "thumbs up" and wink as we headed out the door!

All smiles on our first day of school!!!

Loves his new teacher!

Notice.

Think of my blog as an Opinion Page.

I'm not an objective journalist.

I'm just a girl with a passion. an opinion. and a desire to express those things through the beautiful written word.

If you don't agree with me. That's okay.

I'm not on World News.

I have a free blog (that happens to be public) where I- from time to time- choose to write to share my heart, my passions, and more recently, those little eyes that stole my heart.

So imagine my surprise to find an absurdly divisive, hateful, and biting comment from someone who knows me only from a page on the internet.

A person who left no opening for discussion of our disagreement. Oh boy, do we disagree.

Someone who obviously wanted the opportunity to use hate and sarcasm to perpetuate his/her own perspective on my blog.

Ya'll, we may disagree on a few things here and there...That's to be expected and really? it's okay with me. But we need to be able to sit down at the table and hear each other out in a respectful way

Hate? Anger? Sarcasm? Biting Remarks?

Do nothing but beget themselves. And I won't take part in all that nonsense.

Change won't come by tearing each other down and destroying those who disagree with you. The only thing that comes from all that? Is more hate, more bitterness, and more division.

The truth? is that I'm thick skinned--it hurts but I can take it-- BUT I don't have room in my heart or in my life for that.  I won't engage in that kind of back-and-forth.

There was a point in time when I was certain my mom and my friend Randee were the only people reading my blog. But as a public blog that shows up on Google searches from time to time, I knew that could change.   I chose to keep my blog public because there are people who might need to hear our story. I know there was a time when I was always blog-stalking in hopes that I would find someone who might understand how I felt. Believe me, I've been there.

But. 

It's still a personal page. It's still my page.  If you can't be nice? I don't have to share your opinions with the world. It's really that simple. Be courteous, be kind, be respectful, be honest. If your honesty is in contrast with mine, that is A-okay with me. As long as you are respectful about it. capish?

Here is the FB post I wrote shortly after reading my first-ever  most-recent hatemail.  I think it just about sums it all up for us, friends.

• I moderate the comments on my blog, World. That means, if you want to write a horribly hateful and divisive comment because you disagree with what I write or the choices we've made as a family? I will simply delete what you wrote, refusing to perpetuate that same hatefulness to the rest of the world. It's that simple. Disagree with me? Let's talk about it in a respectful and honest way. The End.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..

Lately I've been trying to remember all the little things that are already disappearing.

The way he babbles in Amharic.

The way he thinks "are you sure" for some reason means "shower"

The way he wore that backpack everywhere.

And then my friend, Ashley, wrote a post listing all the things she loves about her sweet girl and I was inspired.

Dear sweet Marvel, I can not express to you the joy you bring me...even when I want to lock you in the backyard for a few hours.  You are such an amazing, special, smart boy and I am constantly torn by the joy and gratefulness I feel for getting to be your mommy and remembering there are people halfway around the world missing out on all your sweet moments. It is bittersweet and I will try to never take that for granted. Here are a few of the things that steal my heart these days:

1.  I love the way you say "Oooh Noooo!" about so many things. Sometimes perfectly in context...other times? not so much!

2. I love the way you give kisses, fist on the lips, then each cheek, then my forehead, then my nose and then back to the lips!! It takes a few minutes but I don't mind. I need the reminder to slow down anyways!

3.  I love the way you announce EVERYTHING: "Marvel, ka-ka", "Marvel bedroom", "Marvel bawkah!",  "Marvel outside".   It wears on my nerves sometimes, but I know this won't last forever and there will come a day when I may have to force you just to tell me hello!

4.  I love the way I can tell you "I love you Marvel" and you immediately reply with "I love you Mommy"

5.  I love the way you cuddle, right on top of me with your arms draped....

6.  I love the way you can be calmed by holding my hand at night and the way you hop right up in the morning like you've just been waiting for me to get up!

7.  I love the way you've starting putting words together into sentences "You like it!" (you really mean "I like it"), "Get Outta Here Moses", "Mommy, what's firest?" (you really mean "what's next"), "Close the door", "Closed mouth" (when eating). "Silly boy"... It's so cute and I am amazed every day by what new words you have added!

8.  I love the way I randomly catch you singing or humming songs; "Jesus Loves Me", "The Numbers Song", "The Olympics Anthem"...it's a beautiful sound to your mommy's ears!

9. I love how you can't seem to grasp the concept of starting school but you get so excited when we go by the church! Good thing they're close together ;-)

10.  I love the way you love water, Spiderman and yellow! If I could, sweet one, I would build you a world filled with swimming pools, Spiderman and everything would be yellow =)

11.  The way anytime Daddy gives me a hug, you run over to join in! You LOVE family hugs and I do too!

12.  I love the way you try so HARD to be a good boy and do the right thing. The words "Sorry!" are often heard but you strive to do the right thing and I love that that is already grounded in your personality!

13.  I love the way you cover your eyes (and/or ears) when we watch or listen to something you don't want to. Its comparable to throwing a fit but its cute and short-lived (see above) so we can manage.

14. I love the way you ride away on your Big Wheels and say "Chow" to everyone as you drive off.  "Chow mommy, Chow Moses See you later alligator" =))

15.  Most of all, I love your bravery and fearlessness. I see many opportunities to channel that in the coming years but for now I stand in awe of your resilience and ability to love. You've had your world turned upside down no less than three times and yet your heart is soft and your bravery is unparalleled. 

I look forward to all the new ways you will bring me joy and all the things I will want to remember through the years.

I love you more, sweet one.

Mommy

Don't mind my giant monster arms =)

The Great Room Reveal

So I am finally finished with Marvel's room and I am so excited about it! I've been *planning* this room for almost 6 months and it all started with a scrap of fabric I saw! I fell in love and so came the "Robot Room"!!!

The bed is the Kura Bed from Ikea, we painted it blue and I painted the side panels with chalkboard paint. I also "mod-podged" the bedding fabric onto the front panel! Because it was a loft bed, I had decided to turn the bottom into every little boy's dream...a fort! I used felt and clear vinyl and hung it with a tension rod!  When it was finished I was In Love! I could see the start of my vision coming to life!!

The reading corner was a Pinterest discovery! I took rain gutters and cut them into 24" measurements, painted them and hung them on the wall! They are sturdy and can hold a TON of books! Definitely my most creative aspect of the room =)

The Robot vinyl on the wall is from This Store on Etsy!  The dresser was a $5 garage sale find that we painted using Annie Sloan paints and bought These knobs from Olive Kids! Loved how it came to life when it was removed from its old wood + brass handles suffering! ;-))

Finally, the accents were all fun to do...the rug, the buckets of art supplies in the "art corner", the bunting on the wall!

I am so happy with it and can't wait to bring my sweet boy home and show him his amazing room!

And the husband got his one wish.

I didn't paint the walls turquoise. ;-)

Completely Random.

I have been notified that I haven't blogged in some time.

But I am still in the valley of "nothing nice to say".

So, instead, I will succumb to the pressure and fill in the "random things you never thought you needed to know" blanks about my life! =)

Special shout-out to Erica for tagging me!

11 Random Facts about Me:

1.  I hate feet. All feet.  I don't like touching them, talking about them, looking at them. They simply gross me out.  In fact..even writing this made me gag a little..... So, there you have it.

2.  I have an E-X-T-R-E-M-E sweet tooth. I could eat my weight in Jelly Bellys. I will always choose candy or ice cream over those annoying nutrients.

3.  I can rap the books of the Bible. I annually pull this one out at youth camp, much to the chagrin of all the campers. That'll teach you to steal my megaphone suckas. Here listen to me rap the Bible, circa 1993, Baaybeee!

4. I can also sing all the states and capitals. I learned this my Jr. year of high school in U.S. History (shout-out Mrs M!) and never forgot them.  Oh, yes..I can. ;-)

5.  I am [slightly] competitive. There may-- or may not-- have been an incident where a young child was pushed down in a competitve game at a youth camp where I was a team leader. But there was no proof and I was later exonerated.

6.  We are serious Football people in this house. Anytime someone mentions a son of mine playing any sport besides football, I get this weird taste in my mouth and The Husband starts tearing up a little.  It's that serious.   And more specifically, we are Razorback Football fans.  Generally we don't watch much pro-ball (except in the rare occassion that we watch to see a Hogs Alum doing well) but we do love our Hogs!

7.  Turquoise is my favorite color...but if you asked me face to face, I might waffle around a bit. Sometimes I think Kelly Green is my favorite. But it's not.

8.  I love costume earrings. I wear earrings with everything and the longer, the better. This started when I worked at a retail store in college. I walked in (t-shirt and jeans) to a store full of classy gals, who quickly took me under their wings and forced me to pluck my eyebrows, wear make-up and "forcryingoutloud put on pants that you don't have to cinch up at the waist!"  It was almost exactly like a Lifetime special I once saw....

9.   I will do ANYTHING to avoid housework. I have even considered getting a second-job to pay someone to come do it for me. Some people love it. And I totally see why, I too love a clean house...I just don't like having to be the one that cleans it. Especially dishes and laundry.  Every year for my birthday I ask for money to do the fluff and fold service to catch up on all my dirty laundry. That is the only time each year when I am completely caught up.

I'm okay with that.

10.   I am really frugal with money. We buy almost everything second-hand and upcycle anywhere possible.  And apparently there has even been talk of interventions...usually after friends come to visit me and when planning our time together the words "hit up all the Goodwill locations" come up. =)

11.  I read alot. Many times late late into the evening and (if a book is good enough) early morning hours too. I am especially a big fan of Ted Dekker and Jodi Picoult.

Now to answer Erica's questions:
[Disclaimer: Since most of my friends have already done this, I am forgoing to send it on.  I know, I know..It goes against the very fabric of the system. but I'm grown. I can do what I want. =) ]



1. If there was one place you could travel to, what would it be?  Right now?? Africa. Specifically Ethiopia. And Definitely with a photo album full of the newest love of my life.  But outside of that? Israel. I have always wanted to (and will someday) do a Holy Land tour...and maybe even follow Paul's journeys through Rome... Wouldn't that be so cool?


2. Name 3 things from your "bucket list".
1. Learn Italian (heh)
2. Go to the Oprah show (null and void now)
3. Go Skydiving
4. Visit every continent


3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what 5 items would you want to have with you?
1.  An airplane with enough fuel to get home...I kid, I kid....
1.  My Kindle (stocked with enough books to last a while...and maybe Rosetta Stone for Italian {see above})
2.  That Guy from Man vs. Wild..you know, the one that teaches you how to hydrate with your own urine?
3.  A gun (because Lord knows if I have to whittle a weapon to kill my food, I will most certainly starve to death)
4.   Is it wrong to want all the people I love to have to be stranded on a desert island with me? It is, probably....Scratch that.  Sunscreen.
5.  A radio device to call for help.

4. If you could have a housekeeper, a personal chef, or a personal trainer, which would you choose? 
Housekeeper for sure. 100 million%.

5. What was your favorite Christmas gift you received this year? 
A tablet from my husband. He gave it to me early when we thought we'd be traveling halfway around the world but it's really turned out to be way more awesome than I thought it would!


6. What is your favorite book? 
Oooh....Just one?  Cancelling out all book sets and such, I would have to say "Choosing to See" by Marybeth Chapman. I seriously sobbed through the whole thing.


7. What would your dream job be?  
I don't know exactly what it would look like, but I know it would be changing the world for the Kingdom in whatever capacity I could.


8. What is one thing in your life that you regret?  
I regret times in my life when my own insecurity caused me to want more to "blend in" than stand up for people...or principles. I regret thinking that who people thought I was at 17 was the most important thing in life and letting it cause me to say/do the wrong thing. I regret that it took me so long to be comfortable with who I am and that because of that people got hurt.


9. What is the farthest place you've ever traveled to?
Brazzaville Congo.


10. Who is your favorite famous person? 
Ronald Reagan


11. What is your #1 beauty secret/tip? 
Coconut Oil. It will change your life.



So, there it is. Everything you never thought you even wanted to know.. Just taking up valuable space in your memory now. You're welcome.

Happy Monday Friends.....

5 Things On My Mind: Anyone need a few New Year's Resolutions??

As people start gathering all the ways they might make their lives better?


As they take all their goals and dreams and compile them into a beautiful list and prepare to ring a new year filled with better choices?


I thought it would only be appropriate for me to offer up a few options that I believe would make our world a better place.

You know, in case you are having trouble coming up with an adequate list....


Here are some items I believe should be on everyone's resolution list this year:


1.  Stop dressing animals up as people.




Source

There is something just. so. wrong. about this new fad in our society. Your dog's dignity depends on you being better than this.

I can't think of anything else that needs to be said here.




2.  Park straight.


Source

 Really? Do you not realize the ripple effect of crazytown you start with this nonsense? Do you even think about the fifty other people who have to look like donkeys because they have to park crazy because YOU parked crazy?


Let's make this a crooked-free 2012, shall we?




3.  No More One-Uping.

Source

The reason Kristen Wiig is so funny as Penelope is because we all have someone's face we can imagine when she gets going. People? The one-uping has Got. To. Go. already.


I get it. Every now and then you have a moment you just. must. share.  You get carried away and you can't help yourself.


I've been there, too.  I have inadvertently one-upped a love one in a moment of impulse.


I'm not proud of it. But I've done it.


But it's not the inadvertent one-ups that really get my goat. It's the people who word-vomit a constant barrage of one-ups, reminding those around them that they are WAY UP HERE and all the rest of us are all way down here.


Consider this your intervention.


Say "No" to one-upping today. Friends, we can start a revolution!




4.  Commit to walk properly in public places.

Source



Close your eyes with me for a second, if you will. Now, imagine you are in elementary school. You are walking in a line down the hall to recess....


What does your line look like?


Are you zig-zagging down the hallway? Are you right in the middle? Are you going so slow that people have to dodge you left and right to avoid stepping on your shoes??


NO! You are on the RIGHT side of the hallway. And you are keeping with the flow of traffic.


This should be second nature, folks. We are groomed from childhood to walk properly in public places for crying out loud!


Friends, if we can Get This, I truly believe we can achieve anything. World Peace? A Man on Mars? Nothing will be impossible for us!


Together? Let's resolve to walk at an appropriate pace in public.


Let's agree that zig-zagging and middle-walking is intolerable.


Let's commit to walking on the Right Side of the aisles.


Because We? Are worth it.




5.  No More Email Forwards.

Source

Really? Are we really a culture that would give our loved-ones crap? first, the dreaded (and quite unexpected) email crap? and now this new generation of text-crap?

We can do this, friends. We can break the chain.

And, here are the statistics regarding what happens to those who do NOT forward emails (just in case you are gripped by the fear that something tragic will--indeed--happen to you if you fail to subject your family members to ridiculousness)

In the words of FDR, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

Stop hatin' on your family and friends. Learn the power of delete.

We all thank you in advance.

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So there you have it. Five opportunities to better our world with your New Year's Resolutions!

Happy New Year. May we all do fewer annoying things this year.

Amen.